Stijn Vernaillen's Library tagged energy →  View Popular, Search in Google

zero energy Belgium building

energy heatpump

in list: VITO

The availability of wind power for renewable energy extraction is ultimately limited by how much kinetic energy is generated by natural processes within the Earth system and by fundamental limits of how much of the wind power can be extracted. Here we use these considerations to provide a maximum estimate of wind power availability over land. We use several different methods. First, we outline the processes associated with wind power generation and extraction with a simple power transfer hierarchy based on the assumption that available wind power will not geographically vary with increased extraction for an estimate of 68 TW. Second, we set up a simple momentum balance model to estimate maximum extractability which we then apply to reanalysis climate data, yielding an estimate of 21 TW. Third, we perform general circulation model simulations in which we extract different amounts of momentum from the atmospheric boundary layer to obtain a maximum estimate of how much power can be extracted, yielding 18–34 TW. These three methods consistently yield maximum estimates in the range of 18–68 TW and are notably less than recent estimates that claim abundant wind power availability. Furthermore, we show with the general circulation model simulations that some climatic effects at maximum wind power extraction are similar in magnitude to those associated with a doubling of atmospheric CO2. We conclude that in order to understand fundamental limits to renewable energy resources, as well as the impacts of their utilization, it is imperative to use a "top-down" thermodynamic Earth system perspective, rather than the more common "bottom-up" engineering approach.

wind energy limitation research vito

in list: VITO

energy

in list: VITO

energy

in list: VITO

praktijk oil energy

in list: VITO

energy sustainability

in list: VITO

energy

in list: VITO

energy solar cell

in list: VITO

energy

in list: VITO

energy

in list: VITO

"Compost service for businesses, with collection via pedal power

What's even greener than a service like Eco Scraps, which collects compostable goods for local Utah businesses? Why, that would be one that performs a similar service using pedal power instead.

Now serving downtown businesses in the greater Victoria, British Columbia, area, reCYCLISTS collects food waste in 48-liter bins for conversion into compost. Through the project, which is run in partnership with the Downtown Victoria Business Association, participating businesses' organic refuse is picked up using a three-wheeled bicycle with an attached box capable of holding up to 136 kg, according to a report in the Globe and 
Mail. From there, it is transported to a collection facility and later converted into compost for resale. Launched in September, the service is priced starting at CAD 15 per month for monthly pickup.

Given all the pedal-powered efforts we've seen — from taxis to cargo delivery to weekly soup service — it seems safe to say that the time is fast approaching when green-minded businesses aren't entirely green if they still rely on petroleum for transportation. Waste management entrepreneurs around the globe: one to emulate as soon as possible! (Related: Compost service for urbanites, with soil in return.)

Website: http://www.refuse.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=54&Itemid=74
Contact: recyclists@refuse.ca"

energy service compost collection inspiration

in list: VITO

"IfItWereMyHome.com is your gateway to understanding life outside your home. Use our country comparison tool to compare living conditions in your own country to those of another. Start by selecting a region to compare on the map to the right, and begin your exploration."

energy compare data country tool

energy

in list: VITO

building energy

in list: VITO

"Mighty Building Facade Beats Solar Heat With Mechanical Muscles
Comment

*
*
*

You must login or signup to comment

Loading comments...

Problem loading comments?

* Read more comments
* Top

Click here to find out more!
Decker Yeadon's prototype for an expanding, contracting architectural skin has promising applications in green-building design.

Architects love saying their buildings have brains. Now, apparently, they’ve got brawn, too. The latest intelligent-building tech from New York architects Decker Yeadon is a mighty, muscle-y structural facade that fights solar heat-gain by flexing its guns.

The Homeostatic Facade System consists of a mess of silvery squiggles -- which, to continue the body metaphor here, look a lot like a small intestine -- that open and close in response to heat, effectively regulating temperature throughout a building's interior. The key is something called (steel yourself for the scientific gobbledygook!) a dielectric elastomer that uses electricity to change shape. The electricity deforms the squiggles, expanding them when it's hot and sunny and contracting them when it's cold.

If you read our blog regularly you know that intelligent facades aren't particularly new. We've seen high-rise skins that adapt to the environment at the press of a button and others that manage indoor climates by magically breathing in and out. Generally, though, these facades rely on digital programming, which often fails to deliver on promised energy savings. That might be because the controls themselves are unreliable or because they have to be set by employees who are too lazy or too preoccupied to bother. With Decker Yeadon, the innovation is in the material itself. The Homeostatic Facade System shapeshifts on its own; no computer (or human) required.

Unfortunately, the facade is just a prototype, so don't expect to see it pumping away on the latest batch of Chinese super towers -- or even at a smaller scale. (As Decker Yeadon's Martina Decker tells us in an email, it needs to be t

energy

in list: VITO

energy building

in list: VITO

"Yet another alternative design for wind farms
Posted by hipstomp | 5 Jan 2011 | Comments (0)
0zenawindtower01.jpg

The neat inflatable wind turbine we looked at earlier this week solves a materials/cost problem, but it doesn't solve the eyesore problem that keeps some communities opposed to wind farms. So here comes yet another wind-harnessing solution, this time from a Japanese company called Zena: The Wind Tower.
0zenawindtower02.jpg

It's a design for a 50-meter tall structure that collects wind from every which direction, compressing it within its structure and channeling it into a wind tunnel that runs down the core. It is supposedly more cost-efficient than putting up a wind farm and it's arguably more sightly, as it just looks like another building, albeit a tall one.
0zenawindtower03.jpg

It'd be cool if the building was managed by a lone guy with an office inside the structure, but I'm guessing he'd need a manageable hairstyle and rather a lot of paperweights."

energy

in list: VITO

energy

in list: VITO

"The world's leading luxury car maker, BMW, said on Friday it will invest 400 million euros (560 million dollars) by 2013 to produce an electric car as German manufacturers try to catch up with global rivals.

BMW has begun to extend its plant in the eastern city of Leipzig in a project launched by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to produce a series model auto it has dubbed Megacity."

sustainable energy electric car

in list: VITO